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BCK 243 BF 228 'chary'

hello, bit new in these parts, but loving the galleries!

after many years fighting the the urge, I'm maybe about to succumb to the above. She needs a bit of TLC though, worst bits are a couple of planks sprung below the water line port side, maybe a couple that are a bit soft same place opposite, so she taking water at a steady trickle
all the boats I've owned have either been grp or much smaller wooden boats, so don't think I'd be good enough to patch her up myself.

big thing putting me off, though my heart tells me to ignore it is trying to find the skills to fettle her, any ideas?? she's in hartlepool at the moment, ultimately will end up back on the west coast, but needs sorting before I'd risk the trip

so we talking big money or really big money!

any extra history anyone has would be greatly recieved, I'm aware she was built by Herd and Mackenzie in 1947 was originally INS 117(? - 'arnhem'?) before becoming bf228 and then finally bck 243 before being decommissioned

Sounds like she would need a couple of planks and for safety recaulked and given a lick of paint. The planks would have to be done on a slip or hauled out next to the pier ( some harbours have a tidal area that boats can tie up to and dry out at low tide ) somewhere fairly close to the steam box ( the planks have to be steamed so they bend to shape ). That wouldn't be cheap you would need to get a quote , the recaulking you could do if you wanted to once shown same goes for the repainting. Better to pay a few hundred £ to get a proper structural survey done with an estimate of the costs to make the hull sound before buying her.

One thing boats are good for is eating money so it pays to make sure you know what your about to take on.

Hello MarkH
Don't be too frightened if you have owned and maintained smaller wooden boats. I agree with Davie about getting a Survey done. You can get planks "sprung" & leaking with several adjacent ribs fracturing - normally at the sharpest bend. This would not normally require fitting new planks. Fitting an adjacent or double rib is a heck of a lot easier and less expensive than replanking if thats all thats needed. The Surveyor should clarify that. Depending on the softness and extent of your timber problems in the planking - there are epoxy products that can be an effective cure. Once again professional advice. Many of the epoxy products are well tried and proven when restoring old timber boats. Something you may not get told if you didn't know it already - working with epoxy products can be VERY hazardous to your health - don't be complacent! The history you have agrees with what I have in the recent Herd & Mackenzie publication. Good luck MarkH. (PS. a steady trickle of water is Ok - thats wot the bilge pump is for)

had the survey done, all the ribs are good. Looks like the bigesst problem is where a new plank was fitted a few years ago, but wasn'r caulcked/sealed properly, water running behind the plank where the rib fasteners are. I'm guessing the water has blown the fasteners. the leak is definately a good trickle, you can watch/hear it coming from that plank behind the rib. the others, that are maybe a bit soft are just weeping a little. back to bare wood, caulk, seal and paint might sort them, the softness might be minor, need it to dry out first I guess. I've been offered a years hard standing to work on here at the boatyard, but the problem is going to be finding someone with the kills to steam/bend/fettle the planks on site.

the rest I can tackle myself, have caulked smaller stuff before, and as much as I doubted it, it din't sink when back in the water! and once the planks had taken up again didn't even leak so I was chuffed with that, mind you that was only an 20footer!

caulking something like this and I'd imagine I'll have wrists like popeye!

the plus side, and there's a long story behind it, is she's going to be very cheap, so the extra I might spend getting a less problematic vessel can go into the hull, least that way I'll know the hull is spot on

my first job when I left school was laying up grp hulls - know only too well the effects of epoxy!

brilliant will go have a look now, and try suss out the uploady bit and stick some as she is now up

might have found a boat builder on the tyne that can re-plank, fingers crossed.

scary thing will be getting her hartlepool back up here in her present state. Gardner 6L3B in her, but its not been turned over for a year, so thats the first hurdle....

gonns take one more major look over her, and hopefully take the builde with me for advice before taking the plunge. Going with the heart on this one ( I can hear the voices in my head packing there bags!)

Plenty of spares at reasonable cost for that engine i'd think , very good engine too very reliable and very economical. Hope you managed to get her done up as its always better to have a boat afloat and in use than cut up !!

gd to hear about boat just wondering if your after a crew also very handy aboard also have eng room exp and can use welding an cuttin equ etc thnks matt

things are on hold really till new year, when everyone is back at it at least

next step is to get her dried out against the wall, and get a good look at her below the waterline... with the help of someone who actually knows what they are looking for

then we'll make the commitment if its not too bad

after that it'll be all hands to the pumps so to speak to get her fighting fit again, so the more the merrier. Getting the lump to roar back into life will be the first thing I guess, so if you know how o fettle a gardner....!!